Woman Shot in Indoor Shooting Range :TN

This is a discussion on Woman Shot in Indoor Shooting Range :TN within the In the News: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly forums, part of the The Back Porch category; http://www.wbbjtv.com/NewsStories/11...doorRange.html
Originally Posted by WBBJ
A shooting at the indoor gun range at the Great Outdoor Store sent a woman to the hospital, Wednesday evening.
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Woman Shot in Indoor Shooting Range :TN

A shooting at the indoor gun range at the Great Outdoor Store sent a woman to the hospital, Wednesday evening.

According to Jackson police, a husband a wife from Jackson were at the range just before 6:00 p.m. when he accidentally fired a shot from a handgun sending shrapnel and bullet fragments into both of his wife's legs.

The 27-year-old woman was expected to be released from the hospital later Wednesday night.

Investigators believe it was an accident and do not expect to file any criminal charges..

A women was treated for minor injuries after accidentally being shot Wednesday evening at a Jackson firing range, according to police.

The women was hit with a bullet fragment in her leg when a gun was discharged at The Great Outdoor Store of Jackson on North Highland Avenue.

A man accidentally fired the gun while he was instructing the woman on how to shoot the weapon. The bullet hit the pavement before striking the woman in the leg.

This guy was a certified instructor of some sort. When I got to the range this morning for my class, the rangemaster jokingly told me that he was going to have to audit my class to make sure I was doing it right.

The instructor apparently discharged his Glock into the floor between his feet. There was not a significant amount of concrete gone from the floor. In my best guess, the bullet ricocheted and hit his wife. He blamed the gun.

The rangemaster said someone ran out of the range and said that there had been an accident. He said he knew that two people were sharing a lane and when he looked up, he saw only one person, who was looking down. He said that there was a lot of blood on the floor.

I bet his wife is not going to be supportive of a new gun purchase in route home from the hospital. If you want your spouse and others to believe that firearms are safe, don't shoot them. If you do shoot them don't blame the gun for your unsafe behavior. Even if a firearm malfunctions and fires all by itself safe handeling could prevent injury.

Why was his booger hook on the bang switch if the weapon wasn't pointed downrange,wonder if he's related to DEA guy.I would seriously question whether I would allow him to instruct anybody at the range.Another one of those Delinquent guns that "just go off"

I'll pick the answer that reads: "Barrel of pistol should have been pointed down range."

Bingo. ^^

This is both a basic firearm safety rule as well as being an NRA Range Safety Officer rule.
Further having the gun points at the deck _with_ a person standing _in front_ of you is yet another safety rule violation albeit a sub-item of advanced note against the basics.

End of the day this is not a gun fault item.
It is a gun holder and operator issue; Even if by some magical wondrous way the gun had actually made itself fire without having it's trigger be _touched_ by a human hand.

Addendum:
Report is he was "instructing" his wife in how to shoot, which includes gun handling!
Think of now how gun shy she is goign to be (who knows where she was to start!) following this incident.
Further imagine what her family, friends, neighbors and co-workers will have to say and think too after this incident...Especially the ones who were fence riders to start never mind those that might have been anti.

People really need to understand that they as an individual DO REPRESENT not just them self singularly but us ALL broadly as related to our sport, our rights, our attitude AND our skill level as a civilian toward handling firearms.
What you do AND do not do as a gun owner is a direct and very often lasting reflection on yourself and us all in kind. Act right!

With some of the gun-handling I've seen at my local range, I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often.

There is a precipitous behavior with many gun handlers that transcends knowledge, age and experience. I’ve seen gunsmiths and fellow LEO’s alike have unintentional discharges. Our brain isn’t always as good at multitasking as we think. Unfortunately, I know firsthand how a mistake with a firearm can happen.

Oh, and this is also why many ranges do not allow multiple persons in the same shooting box of a given bay.

* The person handling the gun should be in the shooting box _alone_.

* The person(s) watching/learning should be standing outside of the shooting box observing with their eyes from distance, 2 or 3 ', to the rear or the left/right if space allows.

* The instructor handling guns in the box should always either have the gun in hand pointed down range...OR...To empty the gun (magazine out) and clear it leaving the action open _immediately_ prior to any follow on handling for discussion or demonstration.
This past Monday while at the range training I witnessed two shooters to my immediate right (bulletproof glass dividers) who clearly were new shooters doing this wrongly so I introduced myself and showed them proper manner. As it turned out it was the birthday for one of the guys and a trip to the range by his buddy was his birthday gift. They both were renting the gun they use and neither had any background with handling firearms as they confessed to me.
Worrisome. I strongly encouraged them to take a Basic Pistol course from an NRA or NSSF certified instructor.

I too at public ranges see some very sketchy activity going on.
Which is why generally if space allows I will always seek to segregate myself away from people to the farthest left or right most booths (the ROs know to do same for me when assigning lanes). This past Monday though the place was at capacity so I'd had no such buffer.

Those of us as safe, experienced and knowledgeable shooters should make the extra effort to reach out to new shooters, especially those we see on lines at public ranges acting like they don't know any better...And likely do not, to share with them the correct ways and means toward handling firearms so that they too don't add to the see look I told ya list as compiled by the Brady Campaign and our fence riding neighbors who vote.